Students are inherently and intrinsically creative and curious, but they also long for safe and predictable environments that allow them chances to develop such skills as exercising autonomy, practicing independence, demonstrating competence, growing in learning, and forming relationships and connections (Ryan & Deci, 2000). These behavioral skills foster complex thinking and social-emotional growth (Denton, 2005), which lead to success not only in classrooms but also in life.
All students deserve that we, as educators, nurture their behavioral skills as well as their academic skills. Doing so should not be difficult—both sets of skills require students to learn problem solving, metacognition, and critical thinking, so there should be some degree of overlap in what is taught. However, in an attempt to cover the increasing number of academic state standards and ensure our students are compliant, we have lost sight of our responsibility to consider our students’ fundamental behavioral needs—those skills that form the foundation of an education and a life.
I passionately believe that the most important instructional and behavioral principles and practices for students—differentiation, growth mindset, self-assessment, metacognition, and perseverance, to name a few—are inextricably related. Research finds that these skills are mutually reinforcing concepts that will improve student engagement, nurture noncognitive skills, and lead to greater academic performance (see, for example, Farrington et al., 2012). Instruction in one behavioral skill should positively affect the development of other skills, serving overall to improve school, career, and life outcomes for students.
This book builds on a research-based model of instruction and supports that is already familiar to educators—response to intervention, or RTI. This introduction presents to educators what RTI can be, should be, and truly is—the what and why of RTI, and how it applies to behavioral instruction. It defines behavioral skills and discusses the need for behavioral supports for all students—not just those displaying contrary behavior—since behavioral skills are necessary for any student to be successful in school, college, career, and life. It helps educators apply the latest information from research studies on behavior and its impacts on success to skills they can teach in their classrooms. Finally, it encourages readers to embrace the notion that behavioral skill development is a critical part of the educational experience and that each and every student has the capacity to learn and display positive behavioral skills. As stakeholders in the school community, educators, including administrators, should ensure that their learning spaces reflect an appreciation for and knowledge of behavioral skills, such that students in their classrooms view school as a welcoming environment that teaches, models, and nurtures behavioral skills.
Introducing Behavioral RTI
While educators have appreciated the importance of student behaviors as a necessary foundation on which to complete the “real work” of academics, many now recognize that behavioral skills are as important as, and perhaps more important than, academic skills. Whether we label behavioral skills as noncognitive skills, self-regulation, executive functioning, social-emotional learning, or more specifically as grit, self-control, or social intelligence, student mastery of these behavioral skills better predicts success in school, college, and life than test scores and measures of intellectual ability (Borghans, Golsteyn, Heckman, & Humphries, 2016; Duckworth, Quinn, & Tsukayama, 2012; Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Heckman & Kautz, 2012; Noftle & Robins, 2007; Poropat, 2009). We as educators must collectively embrace this reality and better nurture these skills within our students. But how? The simplest solution is simply to take what we’ve already been doing with academics and apply the same process to behavior.
One of the most common models for teaching academic skills to students—all students—is RTI. According to RTI experts Austin Buffum, Mike Mattos, Chris Weber, and Tom Hierck (2015):
RTI is a systematic process of tiered support to ensure every student receives the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels. RTI’s underlying premise is that schools should not delay providing help for struggling students until they fall far enough behind to qualify for special education, but instead should provide timely, targeted, systematic interventions to all students who demonstrate the need (Buffum et al., 2012). Traditionally, the RTI process is represented in the shape of a pyramid. (p. 8)
Buffum and colleagues (2015) offer an illustration of that pyramid (figure I.1, page 4) and go on to explain its components:
Source: Buffum et al., 2015, p. 8.
Figure I.1: The RTI pyramid.
The pyramid shape is wide at the bottom to represent the basic instruction that all students receive. As students demonstrate the need for additional support, they move up the pyramid, receiving increasingly more targeted and intensive help. Fewer students should need the services offered at the upper levels, thus creating the tapered shape of a pyramid. The pyramid is also traditionally separated into tiers, with Tier 1 representing grade-level core instruction, Tier 2 supplemental interventions, and Tier 3 intensive student support.
… RTI does not endorse or dictate a specific curriculum, assessment product, or intervention program, but instead creates processes that empower educators to make these critical decisions based on the specific learning needs of their students. While RTI processes are applicable to behavior interventions, RTI implementation efforts have traditionally focused on academic curriculum and instructional practices (Sugai, 2001). (p. 9)
Its process is applicable to behavior interventions. Response to intervention is a research-based set of practices. RTI plans are required within school districts in the United States, and most districts, schools, and educators are familiar with the principles and practices of RTI. Let’s apply the familiar processes that we have applied to academics to the critically important area of behavioral skills.
The Six Steps of Behavioral RTI
Based on extensive research and empirical evidence, RTI is one of the most impactful sets of principles and practices in which schools can engage (Allington, 2011; Bloom, 1968, 1974, 1984; Burns, Appleton, & Stehouwer, 2005; Burns & Symington, 2002; Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes, & Moody, 2000; Gersten, Beckmann, et al., 2009; Gersten, Compton, et al., 2009; Hattie, 2012; Swanson & Sachse-Lee, 2000; VanDerHeyden, Witt, & Gilbertson, 2007). However, in many schools, educators are applying RTI incorrectly, complicating the process, or misunderstanding the point entirely by focusing only on Tiers 2 and 3. Educators can follow certain steps, or elements, when applying the RTI model to alleviate these complications.
In behavioral RTI, district and school teachers and staff complete the following six core steps.
1. Identify the most critical behavioral skills.
2. Define and make sense of these skills.
3. Model, teach, and nurture these skills.
4. Measure student success in displaying these skills.
5. Provide differentiated supports that respect students’ current levels of readiness.
6. Intervene appropriately and as necessary when evidence reveals the need.
These six essential steps to developing students’ behavioral skills are the